PEOPLE living and working in Frimley have criticised plans to put a hold on building a new car park to ease congestion and parking problems at Frimley Park Hospital.

Andrew Morris, the hospital’s chief executive, announced he was “reluctant” to build a new £6million multi-storey car park, despite having the money and planning permission.

Instead, he could spend £10m building the hospital a new A&E department.

Speaking at a Rushmoor Borough Council meeting last week, he said: “The current accident emergency facility is getting a bit creaky now. It was never designed for 90,000 attendees a year, so we want a new facility.”

Mr Morris told Rushmoor councillors he could solve the car parking problem overnight but instead the hospital’s board of directors was deciding whether to pursue it or not.

People living near the Portsmouth Road hospital said they were not directly opposing the improvements but were disappointed to hear of the change of plan.

They claim the problems with queuing traffic trying to get into the hospital have worsened and results in people parking in residential streets.

Michael MacCoughlan of Parkside Residents’ Association, a group created to campaign for a residents’ parking scheme, described the current parking problem as horrendous.

He said it was gob-smacking that Mr Morris had gone back on a plan to solve one of the area’s biggest issues.

“The hospital needs a new car park and a new entry point. They have the money, so why don’t they spend it on the car park?

“It’s not just the people living nearby who are affected, commuters and people working in the area are too.

Mr MacCoughlan believes one of the biggest problems is hospital staff parking in residential roads.

He said: “We now get groups of people who greet each other on the street and then walk the 200 yards to work.

“Denton Way gets a lot of it because there’s a cut through to the hospital. We are not against the improvement of the hospital but something needs to be done about the parking.”

Fellow committee member George Daglish, of Partridge Close, added: “A lot of people are going to benefit from a new A&E but they won’t be able to get into it quickly and won’t be able to park.

“I have often seen ambulances marooned in the queues into the hospital.

“You cannot argue with a new A&E, but this is an issue that needs addressing.”

Peter Harris, director of Acre Office Supplies in High Street, Frimley has been lobbying for better parking facilities for more than two years.

He claims that many people not wanting to sit it queues into the hospital, park in the Frimley centre.

Mr Harris said the problems at Frimley Park coupled with new parking charges due to be brought in by Surrey Heath Borough Council in April spell difficult times for the village.

“The council and hospital are not interested in talking to local people about what their needs are,” he told the News.

“We need to sit down and thrash out a solution because it is only going to get worse.

“The council say they want a sustainable business environ-ment but this change is not going to help anything.”

If the plans go ahead the front of the hospital would be expanded to give more room to patients and staff.

As a result the number of beds for “resuscitation” — the treatment of the most critically injured patients — would increase from eight to 12 or 15.

A helicopter pad on the roof would allow Surrey and Hampshire air ambulances to land with badly hurt people directly from incidents such as road accidents, and enable consultants to deliver life-saving treatment within minutes.

Other improvements would include private sound-proof glass-fronted treatment rooms, instead of the current anti-quated system of curtained-off cubicles.

There would also be a dedicated children’s treatment centre and a minor injuries unit.